COLUMBUS, Ohio. - The Panthers finished off the Pam Biggs Classic with a split for the final day, coming home with a 3-1 record for the tournament. Birmingham-Southern fell in four sets to No. 20 Otterbein, but were able to come back and defeat Earlham 3-0. 

Match one: Birmingham-Southern came out hard in the first set, taking the lead at 7-6 with a kill from Kennedy Dickens. Otterbein was able to get one point off the Panthers before they went on a six point run to extend the lead 13-7. BSC held the lead at 16-9, looking good until the Cardinals closed the gap with a five point run. With that momentum going, Otterbein was able to take the next seven out of nine points to take the lead 21-18. Two errors from the Cardinals and an ace from Kate Powell tied the game up for the Panthers, but it was not enough and the Cardinals took set one 25-22.  

Set two started off as an even matchup between the two teams with a lot of back and forth play. A service error from the Cardinals started a seven point run for the Panthers, Gigi Fields added two kills to the run as well. This put BSC up 19-14 and they were able to hold their lead to make it to set point at 24-19. Otterbein held the Panthers at set point three times before a service error gave BSC the victory. 

The Panthers were coming off their momentum from set two and used that to take the early lead in set three, going up 8-2. They continued their lead at 18-12 but the Cardinals took two more points, slowly trying to close the lead. The Panthers were looking to end the set soon until the Cardinals went on a four point run to tie up the set 21-21. Birmingham-Southern was only able to get one more point in the set before Otterbein took it 25-22. 

Set four was another close game with the lead bouncing between the teams. Birmingham-Southern had a lead at 11-9 but the Cardinals went on a five point run to take the lead 14-11 and extended it to 17-12. Three points in a row went to BSC to close the gap 17-15, but even with their fight, the Panthers fell to the Cardinals 25-17.

Records
#20 Birmingham-Southern, 5-2, #15 Otterbein 8-0

Set Summary
SET ONE: 25-22 Otterbein
SET TWO: 25-22 Birmingham-Southern
SET THREE: 25-22 Otterbein
SET FOUR: 25-17 Otterbein
 
Match two: 

Birmingham-Southern took the early lead at 8-3 after a service ace from Grace Waddell.    The Panthers extended their lead 13-6, kills by Leah Nielsen and Alyssa Coats pushed it to 18-12. The Quakers went on a five point run to close the gap 18-17. Birmingham-Southern came right back and took the next six out of seven to take them to set point. Kennedy Dickens ended the set with a kill to take it 25-19. 

Panthers started off strong with a 5-2 lead after an error from the Quakers. The lead extended to 11-7 after a kill from Kennedy Dickens. The Panthers were looking good with a 18-12 lead going into the end of the second set. Kills from Emily Buhl and Alyssa Coats pushed the Panthers to 22-15. Kennedy Dickens ended the set once again, this time with a service ace at 25-16. 

Building on their momentum they took the first five points of set three. The Panthers went on a eight point run with two kills and a block from Kennedy Dickens, extending the lead to 19-7. The Quakers were able to fight back and close the gap on the Panthers lead at 23-20, but Birmingham-Southern was able to finish it out and take the sweep.

Records
#20 Birmingham-Southern, 6-2, Earlham 4-4

Set Summary
SET ONE: 25-19 Birmingham-Southern
SET TWO: 25-16 Birmingham-Southern
SET THREE: 25-22 Birmingham-Southern

Up Next
The Birmingham-Southern volleyball team will play Millsaps on Wednesday, September 14 at 6 p.m. in Jackson, Miss.